Smith Burns up Seaside Course

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

If his first three-mile race is any indication, Brent Smith can expect great things in the future.

The Palisades High ninth- grader won the boys freshman race last Saturday at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura, clocking 15 minutes, 32.5 seconds to finish 55 seconds ahead of runner-up Joshua Montoya from Agoura.

“On the bus ride some of my teammates were talking about how I could possibly win and then I was told that the fastest time [last year] was 15:34,” said Smith, who ran cross country at Paul Revere Middle School. “In the beginning I was a bit nervous and I just kind of wanted to run my race and get 15:40 at least. With a quarter mile left [teammate] Will Taylor told me that I was on pace for 15:30, so I started sprinting really hard. I beat my goal so I’m pretty happy.”

Smith took first place in a field of 235 runners. Teammate Ryan Breitman was 52nd in 18:54.2. Alex Iida finished in 20:40.3, Emmett Kallmeyer was right behind in 20:40.8 and Ezra Schoeplein clocked 20:45.8.

Smith surprised even himself with the ease of his victory on the flat, fast course at San Buenaventura State Beach.

“At about the mile mark I felt pretty strong and started breaking out, controlling myself, getting into my own pace,” he said. “Once I started leading I felt pretty good and I used the [pace] bike as motivation to push me a bit harder. I like to be the leader because that way I don’t have to come up behind someone. It’s actually harder when you do that because you let someone else set the pace. So I prefer to be ahead from the start.”

Though his initial high school meet ended in triumph, Smith is looking forward to running at Pierce College – a course more to his liking.

“I actually prefer courses with more hills because I sort of like to see people get tired and then I can pounce on them and expolit them,” Smith said. “But I enjoyed this course and I thought it was very good. I’d like to be running maybe in the 14:50s and make it to state for cross country to prove to people that I’m a good runner.”

He’s already made a believer out of his coaches and teammates.

“I knew Brent had a chance of winning, Pali High head coach Bob Macias said. “I told him to check out the competition the first mile and see what happens. I figured there would be four or five guys in the lead group.”

In the first race of the day, another Revere standout, Brittany Darrow, placed eighth out of 197 runners in the freshman girls race with a time of 19:26.0. Devian Salcedo from McFarland was first in 17:05.6, shattering the freshman meet record.

“I was aiming for the top 20 so I did better than I expected,” said Darrow, who is 90 percent recovered from a hip injury she suffered while training in Mammoth. “I’ve only run a 5K once before when I was in sixth grade. I normally dont like flat courses because everyone goes out faster. I started in the sand instead of on the cement and I ran the first mile too slow, but now I have a gauge  as far as where I place. I’d like to be low 19s for the 5K and low fives for the mile.”

Three other Dolphins placed in the top 100 to lead Palisades to eighth overall with 254 points. Katie Thomas (23:35.0) was 75th, Ellie Schultz (23:54) was 80th and Juliet Petrisor (24:42.7) was 100th.

“I didn’t run here last year and I don’t normally like flat courses, but at the end I focused on getting a good spot and not letting anyone pass me,” said Samandia, who  clocked a personal-best 21 flat at City finals last year. “I’m hoping to break 19 [minutes].”

Also helping the Dolphins to seventh place with 181 points ere Zoe Camporaso (20:45.1), Ilaria Stewart (20:58.2), Lulu Takei (22:53.3) and Caitlin Bose (24:01.3).

Shannon Lee took 17th out of 231 runners In the junior girls race with a time of 19:18.8, leading the Dolphins to seventh with 233 points. Chelsea Levi was 48th in 20:45.9, Ariel Pollack was 56th in  21:09.4, Anna Bohuny was 77th in 21:58.0 and Nicole Figueroa was 78th in 21:58.7.

In the senior division, Kiana Billot was 18th in 19:15.2 and Emma Ulfvengren was 23rd in 19:37.0.

“I’m actually very confident we can win [City] this year,” Lee said. “Losing [three-time City champion Marissa Williams] forced us to fill the gap and we’re  a closer group this year. We’re all pretty similar time-wise, which should help us win.”

Beginning her third season on the team makes Levi one of the veterans and although she prefers track to cross country, she accepts the leadership responsibility.

“Mentally it’s a different experience but we have to use teamwork and have encouragement,” she said. “I give pep talks and try to keep everyone at ease.”

Lee ran her PR (19:13) at Seaside last year.

“It was a lot hotter this time so I tried to hydrate for this race,” she said. “I prefer flat courses like this. With hills it’s about working through it. My goal this year is to break 19 [minutes].”

Macias hopes Darrow and Samandia place in the top 10 at the City finals.

“Brittany and Kimia will be battling for the 1-2 spot for us,” he  said. “The faster they push each other the better we’ll be. We have a tighter group than last year.”

With the temperature over 90 degrees the boys sophomore, junior and senior races were cancelled, to the dismay of Macias.

“We would’ve had a chance in the 10th and 11th-grade races,” he said. “Still, it was a good meet.”

Palisades will compete in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic this weekend at Orange County Great Park in Irvine.